US embassy cable - 03HARARE579

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 HARARE 000579 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AID/W FOR AFR/SD/HRD, G/PHN/DAA, G/PHN/POP, 
G/PHN/HN, G/PHN/HN/HIV, G/PHN/HN/HPSR, 
G/PHN/HN/EH, G/PHN/HN/CS 
AFR/SA, MARJORIE COPSON, VERNITA FORT 
State/AF, MIKE RAYNOR 
 
MISSIONS FOR: PHN OFFICERS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KHIV, ZI, HIV/AIDS 
SUBJECT:  HIV/AIDS MESSAGES REACH MILLIONS OF 
YOUTH 
 
 
1. Summary:  USAID/Zimbabwe is making creative 
use of television to reach millions of youth 
with HIV/AIDS messages.  Adolescence is a period 
of dynamic change and although many youth are 
healthy, they face the risks of unwanted 
pregnancies, HIV/AIDS and other sexually 
transmitted diseases. In Zimbabwe, as elsewhere 
in Africa, more than 50% of all new HIV 
infections occur in young people under the age 
of 25. As part of USAID/Zimbabwe's overall 
effort to address this problem, we recently 
launched a TV soap opera and a TV talk show that 
are entertaining young viewers while 
simultaneously educating them about HIV/AIDS and 
delivering strong behavior change messages. The 
soap opera, named Studio 263, has quickly become 
the number one TV show in the country.  The two 
shows offer a broad range of HIV/AIDS prevention 
messages with the long format allowing for more 
in-depth treatment of such nuanced subjects as 
abstinence. End Summary. 
 
2. In September 2002, USAID/Zimbabwe launched a 
TV soap opera, named Studio 263 after Zimbabwe's 
international dialing code, that airs in half- 
hour episodes three times a week.  The show 
deals with day-to-day issues confronting young 
Zimbabweans. It provides choices, solutions and 
ideas that help young people think about the 
future they want for themselves. 
 
3. Studio 263 is the story of Vimbayi, a 
beautiful young woman from a lower-middle-class, 
high-density suburb of Harare.  After winning 
the Miss Harare beauty pageant, Vimbayi decides 
to go for the prestigious Miss Zimbabwe pageant. 
Financially constrained, she meets a rich young 
man who offers to help her. She becomes pregnant 
just before the contest and loses the 
opportunity to realize her dream. With the man 
refusing to accept the child, she decides to 
take control of her life, completes her 
education and finds a good job. Trying to manage 
her own family as well as help her parents, 
Vimbayi goes on to become a successful, married 
career woman. Her relentless struggle to 
overcome various obstacles at home and work, 
while dealing with relationships with 
boyfriends, family members and friends, and her 
eventual emergence as a confident, woman of 
substance, become the main focus of the story. 
 
4. A variety of evolving situations and 
circumstances are threaded through different 
characters and relationships surrounding 
Vimbayi, her life, her ambition, dreams and 
career.  These stories are designed to help 
Zimbabwean youth understand the risks associated 
with early sexual activity, especially HIV/AIDS 
and unwanted pregnancy.  The program educates 
youth on the choices available to them in 
overcoming such risks.  It provides social 
support for the choice of delayed sexual 
activity and living a healthy life.  By offering 
role models that young people can emulate, the 
serial drama aims at improving the physical, 
mental and social well-being of Zimbabwean 
youth. 
 
5. When it was launched in September 2002, 1.6 
million viewers tuned into the first episode of 
Studio 263, making it the second most widely 
viewed program on television, after the 8 p.m. 
news.  Since the beginning of the year, the 
number of viewers has grown rapidly to 2 million 
per episode, making Studio 263 the most popular 
show ever on Zimbabwean TV.  While young adults 
remain the core audience, the program also 
attracts older family members with its social 
relevance and family appeal. "Studio 263 has 
become a cult," says a professor from the 
University of Zimbabwe. A twenty-year old woman 
in Chegutu reveals, "Vimbayi, Beverley, Jabu, 
James, and Tendai - they are all household names 
today. We look at ourselves through them. If 
anything happens to Vimbayi, I feel as if it's 
happening to me. It's so real. I love it." 
 
6. While Studio 263 connects with the youth 
through its emotional drama and identifiable 
characters, This is Life is an edu-taining talk- 
show of one hour duration, aimed at generating 
debate and discussion in Zimbabwean society by 
providing more detailed information on HIV/AIDS- 
related issues in an interactive, informed 
manner. Topics are chosen for their relevance to 
youth.  They are discussed at length under the 
guidance of experts with both a studio audience 
and people on the street. The show is co-hosted 
by two well-known Zimbabwean presenters. 
 
7. Launched in June 2002, This is Life commands 
a viewership of more than 1.5 million young 
people per episode. Popular for its frank, bold 
approach and treatment, This is Life deals with 
some of the most difficult issues surrounding 
HIV/AIDS prevention: abstinence -- and 
strategies for achieving it; fidelity; the risks 
of serial monogamy - a common characteristic 
among youth; the trusted-partner myth; condom 
efficacy; alcohol, sex and HIV; money, sex and 
HIV; living positively with HIV -- providing 
support encouragement and information; stigma 
and discrimination; teenage pregnancy; rape; 
children affected by AIDS; and the scapecoat of 
"African culture" as an excuse for sexual 
promiscuity. 
 
8. Both Studio 263 and This is Life are scripted, 
directed and produced by Zimbabweans with oversight 
from USAID's contractor, Population Services 
International (PSI), for message content and 
quality. Studio 263 and This is Life, together with 
a CDC/Zimbabwe-sponsored radio serial drama (Mopani 
Junction), have set a new direction for HIV 
prevention communications in Zimbabwe. 
 
 
SULLIVAN